Blake Lewis celebrates new album with a hometown show

Bothell beatboxer extraordinaire Blake Lewis, runner-up on the sixth season of “American Idol,” celebrates the release of his new album, “Audio Day Dream,” with a show Dec. 20 at Showbox at the Market.

Sharing the bill are The Mob Law and Doxology. Tickets are $15, and doors open at 8 p.m. All ages are welcome.

Lewis had been trying to set up a Seattle release party when I did an interview with him earlier this month. The album arrived in stores Dec. 4 via Arista Records’ 19 Recordings label.

“The record label isn’t really paying for me to have a record release party, so I’m like, ‘Forget that, I’ve gotta do one myself,’ ” Lewis said.

The new album offers a whirlwind of styles, from hip-hop to funk, soul and R&B. Among the more interesting songs — aside from the debut single, “Break Anotha” (recorded in Seattle at London Bridge Studio) — is Lewis’ high-flying, guitar- and horn-driven “Gots to Get Her,” a song inspired by the Irving Berlin classic, “Puttin’ on the Ritz.”

Lewis, a Redmond native who grew up in Bothell and Kenmore, is firmly committed to staying in Seattle, as long as career pressures don’t force a move. In fact, he’s looking for property in the Seattle area.

“I have not moved to California, and I don’t think I ever will,” he said in a phone interview from Los Angeles.

“I want to come back home and play some small clubs and support the community of musicians that I’d do anything for.”